


Fallout Shorts

by CamelotScryer



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 01:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 6,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4501821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CamelotScryer/pseuds/CamelotScryer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of short tidbits written around 86 short sentences I got from a writers block website. May be slight modifications to the sentences themselves in the story. Check the notes to know which sentence I'm using and what the coupling for that chapter might be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 14. Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> It was only then, as the world trembled underfoot, that I took my first full breath.  
> No pairing.

She thinks she's ready for the great wide world outside the vault, but even if she wasn't, did she have much of a choice? If she stayed they'd kill her. She stopped at the door, the door that lead to the unknown. She was holding her breathe, her lungs were crying for fresh oxygen. Her vision was going dark around the edges.

She knew she couldn't hold out much longer so she grabbed for every ounce of courage her small body held and opened the door. For a moment she thought she'd passed out. Suddenly the dark tunnel was filled with a bright light, a light that made her eyes squint to see and water. She stepped out past the door and the world came into sharp focus. Sand, and detritus as far as the eyes could see. A great gaping maw spread out across the ceiling, or not the ceiling. There was no ceiling. Her stomach turned and she wobbled another step forward. It was like the ceiling had floated away and left a huge chasm in it's place. The light seemed to come from only one source. 

A huge light in the... sky? That was the word wasn't it? She'd read about the sky once. Her book had said the sky was blue, with white fluffy clouds. Not this one. That made the light the sun. It hurt her eyes to look straight at it and she realized she hadn't breathed this whole time. It was only then, as the world trembled underfoot(or maybe it was her that was trembling), that she took her first full breath.


	2. 35. Kill Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 35\. Kill Her.  
> Charon/F!LW sort of. Maybe. If you squint.  
> Also, on a side note. My LW is named Hero. I saw it while going through names and the temptation got the better of me.

When he finds her, she sitting on the ground looking very battered and upset. There's a slaver standing over her, gun pressed to her temple a familiar piece of paper clutched in his other hand. That explains why she looks so devastated. He can feel it too. A dread that settles like a lead weight deep in his belly.

The Slaver spots him and a slow smirk crosses his face as he waves around the paper “This yours?” Charon swallows heavily and doesn't say a word, watching warily. The Slaver looks satisfied by his lack of answer anyway. He steps away from Hero and gestures with the gun “Kill her.”

Charon’s heart freezes in his chest and the muscles in his arm jerk and tighten as he reaches for his gun. He clenches his jaw so hard a white flash of pain suffuses him as she looks up at him with sad eyes that scream forgiveness. It kills him knowing she'll forgive him for this. The ultimate betrayal. But a thought occurs to him. She'd been teaching him about loopholes. The slaver had said to kill her. A bullet wound would do the job in time. It could work as a distraction. He just hoped this worked out well.

He aims the gun carefully, and makes eye contact. Trying to convey the plan. He's not sure is she got the message but the Slaver is loosing patience and shouts “Shoot her!” No sooner does he stop speaking then the gun goes off. It sounds deafening and time seems to slow down. The bullet slams into her in such a fashion that the momentum causes her body to swing around and hit the ground. Everything is quiet.

She doesn't move, and neither does he, holding his breathe and waiting. The slaver gestures “Check if she's dead.” Good. He approaches gingerly and is careful to use his body to hide his movements as he places his gun in her hand. He prepares to spring out of the way as he begins to turn her over. He hears the bullet click into place and she starts to move on her own. He flings his body out of the way and moments later the Slavers head erupts in a fine mist of red. He's slow to rise, giving her a chance to fetch his contract. She grabs it in a mad scramble and then falls back on her rear with a whine “Charon, get the stims!” He can't help the small relieved laugh that leaves him before he sets a glower on her “I hate you. Never do that to me again.”

Her laughter makes it worth it, even if it does choke off into a pained groan.


	3. 68. Cowgirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 68\. She could deflect their bullets with her own.  
> Charon/F!LW sort of. Not really stated.

He swears sometimes that Hero is some sort of Cowgirl reborn. Some sort of gun-slinging, rodeo hand legend of old. She's brilliant, beautiful, charismatic. And best of all, She could deflect their bullets with her own. 

The first time it'd happened he'd almost been hit. The world had seemed to slow down and he could hear his own heart beat. He could see the bullet coming, new he was about to go down. And then just, poof. Another bullet had entered the scene and the two bullets had collided and gone scattering loudly to the side. He'd blinked only once before killing the Raider who'd just shot at him and then looked over only to see the bullet had come from where Hero had been standing. She only took a moment to cast him a curious look and he shrugged before getting back to the fighting.

He'd put it out of his mind. It hadn't taken long however before he'd seen her do it again. And again. It's like a party trick for her. She cackles when she does it, because of the shock on our enemies face. He'd even just pulled her aside one day and made her shoot his bullets out of the air. She hit them nine times out ten.

So he'd started referring to her as Cowgirl. She hated it and pouted every time he said it. But she didn't tell him to stop. Which... “Hey, how come you let me call you Cowgirl even though you hate it?” She looks up from cleaning her gun and grins “Your smile. You do it every time you say it. I like your smile.” 

That's... yeah. He's not calling her Cowgirl anymore. But he'll try to smile more often.


	4. 73. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 73\. She cried and screamed at the edge of that cliff until she tasted blood in her mouth and her body collapsed into the dirt, spent and shaking. 
> 
> F!LW/Charon Though it's more just a comfort thing. The coupling is technically there. 
> 
> I'm trying to write one of these a day. But it might be every other day. It's not that I'm busy or anything. I just sometimes really get into whatever video game I'm playing and play from when I wake up until it's time to turn in for bed.

She's pissed as hell, pacing along the cliff face. She's not sure she'd call it a cliff but it's a sheer drop into the water and that's close enough. She's not sure when she started crying, but it was probably shortly after leaving the Brotherhood's compound. Instead of heading out to retrieve the G.E.C.K, she'd headed towards Rivet City. Back towards her fathers body. She knew she couldn't retrieve it while the Enclave soldiers held the Memorial. But she could grieve with it so close by. There had been no time before. In her pacing she spots Charon with his hand wrapped in Dogmeat's collar, holding the silly mutt from joining me by the cliff's. And probably knocking them both off in the process.

Her anger boiled over and she let out a scream. It was over in a flash but it left her ears ringing, and her head felt clearer. She could see people peering over the rails of the ship. They could hear her from there? She screamed again, louder. Longer. She cried and screamed at the edge of that cliff until she tasted blood in her mouth and her body collapsed into the dirt, spent and shaking. Seconds later a wet nose is pressed into her cheek and a wet tongue follows. She pushes at the hairy mongrel and then he's pulled away and Charon is by her side. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. 

She only realizes then how cold it is by the water because her skin is ice cold in comparison to his. He tucks her head under his chin as he rubs her arms “Everything going to be fine. We'll get the G.E.C.K, beat the Enclave, give fresh water to the people. And then there will be time. Time to bury him, time to grieve properly. But right now you need to pull yourself together and deal with Harkness cause he's headed this way. Think he's gonna try and get you for disturbing the peace?” That draws a laugh out of her and she allows Charon to drag her to her feet and help her straighten herself out as she goes to confront Harkness over what ever he's upset bout now.


	5. 86. Baby Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 86\. Aren't you a little young to have a child?
> 
> Pre-F!LW/Harkness Mostly just them being sassy-pants at each other.   
> And sorry this is a bit late. I spent all my time playing on my Legacy family on The Sims 4 yesterday. So I decided to do this first and then play Sims today.

The kid talks a lot, but she doesn't mind. It's nice to hear another voice in the vast Capital Wasteland. Not like Dogmeat talks much, or at all. So she listens as Bryan prattles on about whatever comes to mind. She doesn't really respond, but he doesn't seem to mind.

He'd wanted to just head to Rivet City on his own, but she'd decided to escort him anyway. A lone kid in the waste's? Prime bait for Raiders and Slavers a like. They were getting close now. She can see the boat in the distance. She turns to Bryan and interrupts his diatribe “Look, you can see the boat.” She points and his eyes follow. He lights up with excitement, a new bounce in his step as he starts talking a mile a minute about the impressive sight the boat makes.

It doesn't take long to reach the boat and she's glad she'll finally be able to rest her weary legs. Bryan hasn't complained about being tired yet, but she's more surprised he hasn't died from asphyxiation. They arrive and she pushes the button for the bridge. A few brief words over the comm. And the bridge swings into place. As always, as it is every time, Harkness is waiting at the other end with a frown on his face. She rolls her eyes as Bryan skips ahead to investigate the men with guns, and then she follows “What's the matter Harkness? Afraid I've strapped a bomb to the lad and intend to set him loose?” 

Harkness scowls “Aren't you a little young to have a child?” She scoffs at him “He's not mine. Why? Jealous?” She smirks at his growl “Relax. This is Bryan Wilks. Vera Weatherly's nephew. His dad passed recently and I'm bringing him to Vera. She's expecting him.” He eyes the kid whose talking the ear off of one of his men “You escorted him all the way here?” Hero nods “Yep. Good kid. Was gonna come here himself. But I didn't think it was a good idea with all the Raiders and Slavers that traverse the Waste's. Just gonna deliver him up to Vera and then I'll be out of your hair Harkness. No worries.”

Harkness sighs and rubs at his forehead “No. It's alright. You can stay and rest a while. You look tired.” Hero can't help but offer a smile “Yeah. Thanks. Come on Bryan, leave the poor man alone and tell me more about that story you were telling me.” The boy jumps to and follows her into Rivet City. She's gonna miss the little brat's prattle.


	6. 3. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3\. Oh, but the chanting is the best part!  
> F!LW/Charon but just fluffy non-relationship stuff.   
> I had most of this done yesterday. But a combination of events made me unable to finish. So once again it is late.

Charon's pretty sure his owner, mistress? Is crazy. She has some really strange idea's about how to handle the dangers of the Capital Wasteland. She's loud, and draws attention to herself, shouts insults at Raiders just to rile them up further. And she doesn't seem to be disgusted by Ghouls like most Smoothskins. 

She peeks at him over her shoulder. “Your thinking aren't you? I can feel your brain overheating from here.” She laughs. 

Charon rolls his eyes at her and asks “Where are we headed anyway?” 

She gestures to a walled in town several yards off. “Megaton, home sweet home. I have a house there. I wanted to drop somethings off with Wadsworth.”

Charon startles. “Why is it called Megaton? Odd name for a town.” 

She laughs again. “Because of the bomb of course. Don't worry, it's harmless... now anyway. I disarmed it. That went a long way in getting the townie's to trust me. And the Sheriff gave me my house.” 

He can't believe it. The town had a live bomb up until at least a few months ago? And people still lived there? What the hell? 

She looks back again. “Mr. Burke from over at Tenpenny Tower tried to get me to set the bomb off instead of disarm it. I told him where he could shove it.”

He... he really doesn't wanna know. 

They reach the town and there is a Protectron outside. She greets it as Deputy Weld and then she leads them inside.

The town is nothing impressive to look at. It's dusty, full of dirty people, and busted pipes. And... chanting?

He can hear a man reciting. “Come forth and drink the waters of the Glow, for this ancient weapon of war is our salvation, it is the very symbol of Atom's glory!”

“What's with the chanting?” He can't help but ask.

She points towards, yup, a bomb. “That's The Children of Atom. They do that everyday. House is up this hill here.”

He turns up the hill. “Can you hear the chanting from there?”

She laughs merrily as she hops along after him “Oh! But the Chanting is the best part!”


	7. 36. Fancy Dress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 36\. Why are you wearing a dress?  
> F!LW/Harkness

She's curious mostly, when she puts it on. She'd found it stashed away in a dresser in a mostly solid house. She'd made it all the way back to Rivet City before she gave in to her curiosity. She got a room at the Weatherly Hotel and changed into it. It's a bit fancier then the dresses she's seen the women wear over at Tenpenny Tower. It's red, with a black belt like thing around the waist and black polka-dots. It fits her rather well. The material feels nice against her skin. Not rough like the Vault Jumpsuit or heavy like her armor.

She does a twirl and smooths down the skirt. Hmmm... Yes. She likes it, and it fits her figure well. The high heels she'd snagged to go with it are a little tight, but what can you do? It's not like these things grow on tree's. 

She steps out of her room and Vera gasps, dropping the rag she'd been holding to cover her mouth. “Oh my! You look lovely! Where did you find that dress?”

Hero shifts self-consciously and rubs at her arm. “Found it. Does it really look nice?” 

Vera squeals. “Of course it does! Bryan! Come look!”

The boy exits the room he's in a pauses mid-step. His cheeks go pink and he flee's the room. Bumping into someone who 'oophs' as he passes.

Hero squirms and she can feel the heat in her own cheeks as she says. “See? He thinks it's hideous. I knew I shouldn't have put it on!”

Vera scrambles out from behind her desk. “No! No! He just has the biggest crush on you! And you look so pretty that he got embarrassed and ran away! That's all! I swear!”

The door opens and they both turn to look at the newcomer. Suddenly Hero is much more anxious. A little boy is one thing, but Harkness is another. 

Harkness rubs at his stomach. “There a reason Bryan ran out of here like that? Didn't even stop when I called him back.” His eyes take in the room and his eyes stop on Hero. “Why are you wearing a dress?”

Hero is certain that the color red has taken over her face. “I told you I look stupid!”

Vera glares at Harkness and Harkness rears back. “No! I just.. you're usually in armor! It looks good, really!”

Hero turns to go back to her room. “I'm changing back into my jumpsuit. This was a bad idea!”

Vera gestures harshly and Harkness panics. “Wait! I came here to...”

Hero stops and turns warily to face Harkness. “To?”

Harkness swallows thickly. “Do you want to get dinner at Gary's? With me?” His eyes flicker down over her dress. “Please?”

She shuffles a bit before asking. “Can I change first?”

Harkness shakes his head. “Please don't. You look good, really. I'm sorry about my reaction before, I was just shocked. It really does look good and you deserve to have people fawn over you a little with how much you do for them. So wear it out, I'll prove it looks good on you.”

Hero hesitates before nodding. “Yeah, okay. But first incident and I'm coming back down here to hide until I die of embarrassment.”

Harkness nods. “Yeah. Of course. But it's not gonna happen. You look beautiful.” 

Both Harkness and Hero go red at the words and Vera coo's in the background. “Be good kids. Have fun on your date. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!”


	8. 59. Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 59\. He counted seventeen.  
> F!LW/Charon

He peeked out of cover at the slavers their fighting. He counted Seventeen. He ducked back down and prepared his gun to even the score a little.

A rapid burst of gunfire from some cover to his left let's him know that Hero has taken her turn, which means he needs to recount, replace, and reevaluate the situation. So he peeks out of cover again.

He counts ten. Dammit. His gun is ready so he just opens fire instead of waiting. He knows that if he waits he'll count five or some other number. She's crazy like that.

Once the gunfire is over he glowers over at her. “Stop stealing my kills.”

She coos and stores away her gun. “Shut up. You love me.”

He sighs. “Yes. But still.”

She cackles gleefully and leads the way to their destination.


	9. 66. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> F!LW/Charon  
> Sorry. Updates will be spotty for a bit. A friend of mine from Highschool passed away a few days ago and I need a few days to get over the shock of it and maybe grieve a little. Also I'll be babysitting my nephew for the next few days while my parents drive my niece home back to Missouri. Won't leave me much time to sit at the computer.

“Tell me what I want to know.”

The slaver spits at her feet. “I'm not telling you shit, ghoulfucker.”

Charon growls and pulls his knife from it's sheath. “Talk. Or I'll make you talk.”

Hero rolls her eyes. “We are not stabbing anyone. This is not good cop, bad cop. This is tell me what I want to know or the Ghoul kills you.”

The slaver snarls and cusses in her direction. She ignores it. “Now, where's the girl?”

The man looks smug. “I ain't tellin' you shit.”

Hero just smiles sweetly. “Fine. Charon, kill him. Search his corpse.”

She exits the room listening to the sound of the Slavers cries and plea that he'll talk, and then the swift gurgling of his slit throat. They always think she won't kill them, just because she refuses to torture the information out of them.

Charon exits the room a few minutes later holding any and all prevalent items he found on the corpse. He waves a piece around. “Idiot kept physical proof of sales. The girl we're looking for is in some podunk town north of here.”

He holds out whats in his other hand. “He also had one of those zippo lighters that you like.”

Hero squeals and jumps forward to collect the lighter. “You sure do know how to treat your smoothskin. You give me only the best gifts.”


	10. 77. Disappointed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 77.I demand to see my son!   
> No coupling.  
> Alright, so I've sat down and tried to write this chapter like a dozen times. And though I've known what I was going to write every single time, a number of things have prevented me from doing so, and after this chapter, things will continue to do so. I said while it was still summer that I would try to update everyday. But now that summer is ending, that seems a bit ambitious. My mother and sister have started back to work, which means I am the only person home to look after my nephew who hasn't started school yet and won't for another week or two. Which means I'm no where near my laptop for most of the day. Once he goes back to school it'll just be me and the puppy. But I'll have daily chores that keep me away from my laptop for most of the morning. It depends on when I wake up. If I get up at ten I'll be done by noon. But some days I'll need to be up early to get my nephew on the bus and if I get on that schedule I'll be up earlier. So updates will be spotty, but I am working on them.

A dozen people have reported yelling from the Living Quarters. The Vaultie's in particular. The kids never made any trouble before, so he's not sure what exactly is going on. So he sends his men back to their posts and heads there himself. It's not long before he hears it. It's a man shouting, older than the Vaultie it sounds, by at least a few years.

“I demand to see my son!” It shouts. The Vaultie had arrived with his father in tow, is that him yelling? He's close enough now that he recognizes the voice of the kids ghoul companion as he states.

“He doesn't wish to see you at this time. He told me not to let anyone in. That includes you.”

He turns the corner to see Charon leaned against the closed door that the Vaultie is supposedly behind. The Vaultie clearly takes after his father, if one weren't older, they could pass for twins. He looks pissed, red in the face. Probably from arguing with Charon. He has one hand raised like he's thinking about violence.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'd have to throw you overboard. And it would probably be your corpse. You hit him and Charon will probably shoot you.”

The man practically turned purple. “Tell this-” He's clearly struggling to not say something derogatory about Ghouls. “Asshole, to let me see my son!”

Charon growls at the Doctor and Harkness reaches out to pat his shoulder. “If your son doesn't want to see you, he doesn't have to. Now stop causing a scene on my ship, or spend the night in the Wasteland.”

The Doctor sighs. “Fine. Tell Noah I'm very disappointed by the way he's acting.”

Charon snorts and pushes away from the door. “That makes two of you.” 

Charon let's himself into the room and closes it in the angry Doctor's face.

The Doctor sputters angrily before storming off.

Harkness shakes his head with a sigh as he turns to get back to work. Huh. Never knew the kids name was Noah.


	11. 1. Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Well, that's great, but I'm running out of underwear and that's a real problem.  
> Harkness/F!LW

It's been weeks since she's been back to Rivet City. She'd saved the world, and wandered off. Dogmeat and Charon are at her back as usual. It takes awhile before anyone comes around to flip around the bridge. And the second she steps past the door, she knows why. Security is everywhere. Running, directing people to go back to their rooms and lock the door. She spots Harkness wading through the mess towards her.

She stops still, she doesn't need to get lost in the crowd of panicking people. 

Any person that stumbles to close in their panic gets growled at by Charon and they quickly stumble off.

Harkness gets swept into the mess once or twice, she spots him calmly explaining something to either a panicked citizen or a grumpy guard whose been overwhelmed by the crowd. It takes him a few minutes to reach her.

He reaches her with a heavy sigh. “It's good you're here. We have a serious problem. A band of people stopped by earlier today to do some business and stay awhile while they trade. Now one of the little bastards is drunk and waving a gun, he has Trinnie held hostage in The Muddy Rudder.”

She's pretty sure he wants her help. But she hasn't been home in months. He didn't even offer a kiss hello. Jerk. “Well, that's great, but I'm running out of clean underwear and that's a real problem.”

Harkness looks rather taken aback by her words. “Seriously?”

She's not about to take her clothes off and show him her shiny new boo-boo on her hip. She just grimaces and makes a hand gesture “Charon, don't kill anyone unless you have too. Don't let him hurt any civvies.”

She walks into the fray, careful to avoid contact. It's slow going enough that she can hear Charon's brief answer, and Harkness's query that prompted it.

“Is she serious?” Harkness asks.

Charon answers. “Injured. Low on her hip. Still bleeding.”

And then she exits hearing range. Especially with all the noise the panicked mob is making.

She borrows some supplies from Doc Preston and leaves caps in their place before going to Vera's. 

She waves lazily at Mister Buckingham who greets her and then heads into her room. She cleans and stitches up her wound before wrapping it. She changes and climbs into bed, she'll probably be sleeping alone that night.

She's sleeping when the sound of the door opening wakes her up. She doesn't turn to see, it's mostly likely just Charon checking in.

When the bed dips however, she sheds that thought. It's definitely Harkness.

A kiss is pressed to her exposed shoulder. “Heard you were injured.”

She rolls a bit to face him. “I fixed it. Borrowed some things from Preston. Left him some caps. You guys save the day?”

Harkness looks chagrined. “Your guy really knows his stuff. He just walked in gun raised and shot the guy through the shoulder of the arm holding the gun. Saved the day. Trinnie won't stop trying to get with him. He's even threatened to throw her overboard.”

She laughs. “Yeah, that's Charon for you. Glad I picked him up when I did. I'd probably be dead without him. This injury could have been worse if he didn't pull the asshole off of me.”

Harkness pulls her the rest of the way to face him and settles close against her body. “Yeah? I'll have to thank him again in the morning for keeping you safe.”

He nuzzles her hair and kisses her forehead. “Now, go to sleep. You can tell me all about your adventures in the morning.”


	12. 27. Never Down for Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 27\. I thought I killed you already.  
> No coupling though I supposed you could look at it as hints of Wanderer/Charon. But also kind of hints of Burke/Wanderer. But only because that shit is all weird and so messed up.

She smiles sweetly at the man who gives her directions to Burke's room. She cocks her hip and leans suggestively against what appears to be a desk. “Thanks.” 

She pushes away and heads for the stairs, Charon at her heels. No one says a word. A ghoul in Ten-Penny Tower? Preposterous. But no one would say anything unless they wanted the full force of her wrath. Her name had spread far and wide. Farther with the addition of Charon. She was a formidable force on her own, unstoppable with Charon at her side. Everyone had heard of the big Ghoul she toted around with her these days. Heard the stories about how he'd literally ripped a guys arm from his body just for threatening to do her harm.

… Though to be fair she'd cut the arm most of the way off first for daring to think it in the first place. But she's pretty sure that part of the story never made it into the final addition that Three-Dog had told. 

She sashays her way off the final staircase and hooks a left towards Burke's. She waves at a passing guard and smiles when he greets her. The guard quickly scurries off when he catches sight of Charon.

She finally reaches Burke's door. She knocks, it's only polite after all.

Burke's answers, and boy does he look surprised to see her. “Darling! It's been so long! Come in, come in!” 

He gestures wildly and moves into the room. 

She smirks and steps passed him, watching his face sour as Charon follows. “Sweetie, honey, stud-muffin. We need to talk.”

Burke sighs with great affront. “I thought I killed you already.”

Her grin is wicked. “You should know I never stay down for long. The... oh my. I can't seem to remember their name. What did you say the people who attacked us were called again Charon?”

“Talon Company.” He rasps.

Burke flinches and grimaces like Charon being able to speak causes him physical harm.

She throws her arms out almost excitedly. “That's right! Talon Company.”

She rolls her eyes and crossed her arms. “More like Dead Company. That's what they are now. My dear sweet Charon saw them off to the afterlife. Didn't you Charon? Of course you did.”

She frowns at Burke, before smiling, all wicked sharp teeth and eyes that glow like fire. “Just like he's about to do to you Burkey. Should have stayed in your hole and out of my business.”

Burke backs away, fumbling for his gun, but goes stock still when Charon's Shotgun muzzle presses up under his jaw. “Can't we talk about this? My darling song bird, I'm sure we can come to some sort of understanding!”

She turns away. “Charon, I want to hear him scream first. Don't kill him too fast.”

Charon smirks down at the squirming man. “As you wish.”


	13. 45. Stay Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Life got way busy. And I keep getting distracted by new things. And old things.  
> 45\. “Stay here” were his last words to me.  
> Charon/Wanderer

“Stay here.” Were his his last words to me. That ass. I violently down the shot of whiskey in my hand and slam it down on the bar.

I choke and shove it across at Gob. “Another.”

He'd told me to stay. And I had. I had stayed where he put me for three days. Three. I'm pretty sure he's dead. I didn't find his body amongst the dead, but that doesn't mean he's alive.

I'd been so scared. That's why I'd stayed for so long. I kept hoping he'd come back.

But he hadn't, and I'd had to half-crawl my way back to Megaton. The closest place where I could get medical attention for wounds I hadn't treated because I was to scared to move and give away my location.

I slam back another whiskey. Gob looks frightened, even Nova is eying me like I'm some sort of dangerous animal.

Which is funny. Usually they eye Charon like that.

My grip tightens around the shot glass in my hand and my leather gloves creak before a briefly violent shattering noise followed by the pain of glass imbedding itself in my fist. 

Gob flinches at the noise and then something wet rolls down my face.

I blink. Did some whiskey hit my face? Impossible. Not enough whiskey in the glass for that.

I reach up and wipe it away only to to realize it's not whiskey. I'm crying.

Nova sighs explosively and moves away from the wall she's leaning on. “You okay honey?”

I dash my sleeve across my eyes. “I'm fine.”

But I'm not. I'm not fine. A sob escapes me and I slump in my seat. “No I'm not. I'm so far from fine! I don't know where Charon is! He could be dead for all I know and I'm so worried! I don't want him to be dead!”

Gob and Nova do their best to comfort her. But I spend the next several days coming into the bar and drinking a large part of their alcoholic supply.

That's when they start talking about an intervention. I can hear them talking.

“She can't keep going like this. We need to get her sobered up and thinking straight.”

Gob shifts to peek at me. “Do you think sobering her up will help? What if she goes somewhere where we can't keep an eye on her to drink? Can't we just water down her drinks and try to talk to her?” 

Nova rolls her eyes. “Even if we talk sense to her when she's drunk, it won't get through to her. She'll go to sleep and forget we talked any sense into her to begin with! Repeat cycle! No! We need to take her to Doc Church. Get her sober and-!” 

The door to the establishment opens and the whole bar goes silent. The last time it had gone this silent it had been Jericho who entered. And he's tried to start shit. He'd bad mouthed Charon. So I'd broken his face open with a chair.

I turn slowly only to find a very large, very familiar ghoul glaring at me. He's injured and holding his side, leaning heavily in the doorway. “I thought I told you to stay put.”

Before anyone can say anything I'm across the room and planting my fist in Charon's face. He goes down like a sack of bricks. He doesn't get back up. But he's still breathing. I shake out my fist. “Someone get this asshole to Doc Church. I'm going home.”


	14. 6. I Want to Set the World on Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6\. We should burn it all down and start all over.  
> Charon/Wanderer

She hates this place. She hates the people in it. Everything is corrupt in some fashion. Even the people who are trying to help. Just the week before she had saved a guy from some raiders and he'd immediately turned and opened fire on her. HER! He'd practically shat himself when Charon has turned the corner and aimed his shotgun at him. Dropped his shitty pistol too. Ass.

She sighs and slumps in the beaten up lounge chair she'd placed on the roof of her house. “We should just burn it all down and start all over.”

Charon looks her dead in the eye and in the flattest tone he can muster says “I don't want to set the world on fire.” 

He even does it in time with the music playing in the background.

She bursts in to giggles, and when she calms, belly aching from the laughter she sighs again “No. Neither do I. But I sure would love to watch it burn.”


	15. 20. There are no Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 20\. There are no stars.  
> Charon/Wanderer

She's watching the sky again. If his eyesight wasn't so good he wouldn't even be able to tell. Can't light a fire unless they want to attract unwanted attention. He glances up. Nothing. He's not sure what she's looking at. But she still does it every night. “What are you looking at?”

She purses her lips and grumbles. “The stars.”

Is he missing something here? He glances up again. “There are no stars.”

She grunts and rolls to face away from him. “There are. But all the smog covers them up. People ruin everything that’s good in this world. I don't even know why I’m trying to save it, they're just going to find new ways to fuck it up even worse than it is. Everything’s a mad grab for power, everyone wants to be in control. So they fight, kill, and destroy. The world would be better off if we just all died.”

He's not certain what he can say to that. He looks up once again at the night sky and tries to remember what stars looked like. Little dots of light that twinkle. He can't remember, and it's a damn shame. He wishes he could show her the stars. Show her all the beautiful things the world held before they'd ruined it with war. 

She's right. The world would be a lot better off with stars instead of people.


	16. 34. Only Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 34\. Only fools fight for love   
> Charon/Wanderer
> 
> Yes, I am still writing these. It just takes a lot for me to force myself to actually sit down and type these up. And I have another writing project going on too. Hell, I technically have endless unfinished projects. And I may not even do all the 86 original prompts I had planned for this one. I can't remember where I was going with some of them. I'll probably find some to replace the one's I'm lost on and grab a few extra to make an exact 100. But I'm lazy. So don't expect anything too soon. I've had this doc opened since April 4th. I'm writing this bit on the 7th. God knows when I'll actually post this. Though as a side note, it's looking like it'll be today.

Sometimes, on quiet nights, you continue on instead of stopping to rest. This is one of those nights. Charon never protests, and if Dogmeat does it's not obvious. Sometimes she thinks the only thing that does protest are her feet. She check her pipboy again to ensure they're still headed in the right direction. She curses quietly and course-corrects. 

They walk in silence for the first hour. Charon hardly ever starts a conversation, Dogmeat can't talk, and she doesn't often see the point. Charon does his best to shut down any conversation she tries to start and there's only so much of Dogmeat cocking his head and whining she can handle before she stops talking to him either.

So basically, this means she's totally caught by surprise when Charon asks. “What do you fight for? What drives you? You're like some kind of unstoppable demon. You've walked us into more fucked up situations than I can count, and I don't understand why we're not dead yet.”

She mulls it over for a time. She's not sure how long this is going to last and she doesn't want to rush it. Why does she fight? For her father, and for all her new friends, for a better world. Is there a reason? A reason behind why she fights for those people? Yes, she supposes there is. “For love, I guess.”

Charon jerks around to look at her, at first he seems surprised, but then he sneers. “Love? Only fools fight for love! There's got to be some sort of reason or else you'd be dead by now!”

She scowls back. “Then I'm a fool. And nothing is more dangerous then a fool who doesn't know what they're doing running into a dangerous situation with a dangerous weapon in their hands. I fight for love. I fight for my father, my friends, a better world for future generations. I fight for you! And if that makes me a fool, than I'll be the deadliest fool to walk this Satan's Pit of an Earth! I'll protect the people I love, even if one of those people thinks I'm a fool for trying!”

She's only able to walk another half-hour in stormy silence before she gives in and calls it a night. 

It's a week before Charon speaks again, she hasn't bothered trying to engage him in conversation either. He doesn't bring up their last conversation. But he seems to be making an effort to appear more friendly. Which is weird as hell.

She doesn't learn until they settle in that night what it's all about. It's sunset and they have a fire going while the sky is on fire too, to cook up dinner. They'll smother the fire before night sets in. She's watching the sun set when he settles down next to her. She doesn't look at him and he seems to fidget a bit. Which is not like him at all.

“I don't think your a fool.”

That's it. No preface. It's so out of nowhere that she almost jumps out of her skin. She sighs and looks off into the distance where she can see some ferals roaming the hills. “Well, if that's as close to an apology as I'll get, I'll take it.”

He leans back against the smooth boulder you'd chosen to camp by, arms behind his head. “I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I thought you were a fool. You said you fight for me, and the others of course, but that you do it out of love. I don't know if it's love. But I fight for you. Always, and not just because my contract says I have too. It's because I care. About you. And your stupid mutt.”

“You just gonna keep going if I don't stop you?” She laughs.

He slumps against the rock. “Thanks.”

She lays back and curls into his side. “All the same, I care about you too big guy. It's good to know you don't think I'm an idiot.”

Charon snorts, but it's in good humor. “Oh no, you're still an idiot. But maybe not for love.”

She smacks him as she sits up again, but she's laughing as well. “Jerk!”


End file.
